


RichJake Chronicles

by KingsleighQueen



Series: Be More Chill Ship Mess [2]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-03-26 22:25:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13867269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingsleighQueen/pseuds/KingsleighQueen
Summary: lol so i kind of completely forgot jke roke his legs so lets say they're healed now and it's a few weeks after the play for timeline reasons and stuff bye





	1. Prologue

Rich opened his eyes before quickly reverting into the appropriate squint he hadn’t quite mastered yet.  Damn hospitals, lights always too bright, no fun, full body casts.  He tried to move, but being in a full body cast, as you can probably imagine, rendered that impossible. “Good morning Richard -” chimed the voice of Nurse Reed.

“It’s just Rich.” he corrected for about the seventy-seventh time since he got here.   
“Oh yes, sorry Rich, just need to take your blood pressure,” she said, pulling the machine over to the bed and fixing it to his finger, “So, how are you?”   
“Listen lady I understand that taking blood pressure is awkward but I don’t think you need to fill these silences.”    
“Woah by that reaction I guess not good.” she replied, fluffing the pillows behind him a little.   
“Well what am I supposed to say? I’m a bit stiff, or this experience isn’t as moving as I expected?” he questioned, clearly exasperated by his current condition, he liked to move.

“Haha, I see we have a comedian on our hands. Well, pretty soon we’ll be able to get his cast off you, but really, Rich, you’re very lucky you didn’t die in that fire and that your injuries weren’t as severe.  You got away from that with some broken bones and full body scars.” she replied with the voice of a purring kitten and all the speech skills of a diplomat.

“Yeah, but I’m gonna be a freak, with all these scars and memories and what feels like a cavity in my head.” he replied with a hint of sadness in his voice.

“It’d be an interesting cautionary tale to tell, and as for the head thing, that young man is why you don’t do drugs,” she said in that way adults do when giving a lecture everyone has heard about millions of times while detaching the blood pressure machine, “Well, I’ll leave you be. Visiting starts in half an hour, see you later Richard.”

“It’s, it’s Rich.”

 

Jake woke to the sound of the beeps of a coffee machine. “Morning, awake at last?” purred the familiar voice of Chloe Valentine.

“Morning Chloe, thanks again for letting me crash on your couch.” he replied, blinking a few times to wake himself up.

“No problem, it was the least I could do considering your house burned down and all you  have is that suitcase full of clothes already packed in your shed along with some condoms and several envelopes each full of a hundred bucks in cash.” she replied, passing Jake a cup of coffee in a red Mickey Mouse mug.

“Thanks for not questioning that by the way, I don’t wanna talk about it. But what time is it anyway? I wanna get to the hospital to see Rich as soon as possible.” Jake asked, accepting the mug of coffee gratefully and taking a sip, it was damn good coffee.

“Half nine, visiting starts at half ten.” she replied, sitting on the couch next to Jake.

“Okay, would you like to come with?” Jake asked again, taking another few sips of the coffee.

“Yeah, sure, I’ll call up Brooke in half an hour to take us.  Now, lets finish our coffee, you get ready and I’ll give Brooke a quick wake up call,” Chloe replied, taking a few sips of her coffee and looking over at Jake quizzically, “Dude why do you even want to see Rich? He burned down your house and is the only reason you’re crashing on my couch.”

“He’s my best friend, and I know he didn’t mean to do it. Plus, it’s good use out of that suitcase in the shed because those are some perfectly good clothes that I never get to wear.” he replied, draining is coffee mug and getting off the sofa to put the mug in the sink.  Chloe did the same before heading off to her room so Jake could change and she could wake up Brooke with a quick call. After she left, Jake immediately opened up his suitcase and sifted through some of the clothes in there for a while before settling for a green and white gradient shirt with jeans and a red jacket, his signature style. He changed out of his blue navy pyjamas into his clothes and put them in his suitcase and took out one of the envelopes.  He quickly flicked through the envelope and took out twenty dollars before placing it back into the suitcase and zipping it up.

 

A few minutes later, Chloe emerged from her room, completely ready, phone in hand, viciously texting. “What time is it?” Jake asked, tying his shoelaces.

“Ten, Brooke’s nearly here, just texting Jenna, she can’t make it, has a thing on right now -” Chloe replied before being cut off by the doorbell, “Oh, I’ll get it, it’s probably Brooke.” she said before racing off towards the door. She opened it, and lo and behold, it was Brooke, also completely ready, a huge smile on her face. “So, we ready to go then?” she asked, clearly meaning Jake, whose hair was still a complete mess.

“Yeah, let me just,” he replied, quickly running his hands through his hair so it looked decent and making sure he still had that twenty dollars, which he had stored in his pocket. They all headed towards the car, Brooke leading the way and Chloe riding shotgun, Jake piling into the back.  After everyone was in the car, they set off towards the hospital, with around twenty-five minutes until visiting hours began.


	2. Confessions

When they arrived at the hospital, Jake practically apparated out the car and to the front of the towering, grey block of concrete. He waited for Chloe and Brooke to catch up before casually sauntering over to the front desk, just in case his room had changed since yesterday, which according to the receptionist lady hadn’t, so he thanked her and led the way to the burns unit, I swear he could have walked blindfolded with the way he expertly weaved between patients and turned corners, while Chloe and Brooke often got caught in walklock more times than I could count and almost had to run to catch up with Jake.

 

Rich woke from his half an hour nap to a knock on his door. “Come in,” he shouted to the mystery knocker, who opened the door and walked in followed by two other people. It was Jake, Chloe and Brooke, he was happy to see them. “Hey how are you guys?” Rich asked smiling a little.

“Great. Hey me and Brooke are gonna go get coffee we’ll be back in a few minutes okay.” replied Chloe before walking out of the room closely followed by Brooke, neither of them once looking up from their phones. They were alone. “So, dude, how have you been since yesterday?” asked Jake, sitting in the seat at the side of Rich’s bed.

“Okay as I’ll be in here. I’ve had no word of when the cast will be off, but if I’m keeping count properly it should be soon, I mean you hd your casts off pretty quickly after you broke your legs.” Rich replied, a hint of anger in his voice.

“Yeah, but I had a pretty simple couple of breaks, they just put a few pins in, I drank  lot of milk, and  voilà, good as new, but yours is more complex so it might be a while.” Jake replied, sounding exactly like a trained medical professional.

“You’ve been here so frequently and asked bout it so many times that that is permanently etched in your brain.” Rich said, laughing a little before a brief pause, “Dude why are you here all the time?”

“Huh?”

“Y’know, I burnt down your house, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, I didn’t think we’d be best buds anymore.” Rich asked, elaborating a little.

“Well,” Jake blushed a little, a weak smile creeping across his face before he replied, thanking God Rich couldn’t see him, “Because you’re my best friend, and whatever that hard drive tic tac made you do is not your fault, and-” he had to stop himself before he admitted something he hadn’t even admitted to himself yet, he couldn’t say it, not yet.

“Yeah, and what?” Rich ventured, hoping maybe he thought exactly what he thought, that his fantasies could become reality, that maybe he could flaunt his newly discovered bisexual-ness, but probably not.

“Nevermind, not important.” Jake replied quickly, a little flustered.

“Dude, you’re gonna be all sappy and then  _ not  _ tell me what that ‘and’ was in reference to?” Rich pressed, growing more curious by the second.

“Yes, it’s stupid, it’s dumb, it’s irrelevant I would appreciate it if we could drop it now thank you.” Jake replied, secretly knowing Rich wasn’t gonna drop it that easily.

“Dude, tell me or I’ll beat the living shit out of you when I get out of this cast.” Rich threatened, knowing full well that a fight between him and Jake would only end in Jake getting hurt and Rich being victorious.

“Fine, dude, I think I-” Jke began before being cut off by Brooke and Chloe entering the room.

“So hey I got Jake a coffee because Rich I’m sorry sweetie but I’m not sure if you can drink coffee right now.” Chloe explained, still engrossed in her phone.

“Yeah, no I can’t really do anything without nurse supervision, I can’t even take a piss by myself.” Rich replied, a bit ticked off by the interruption.

“So, Jake we got you a normal coffee with a bit of milk, here you go.” Brooke said, handing Jake his coffee and taking  sip out of hers, her hair noticeably messy.

“Thanks.” Jake said, accepting the coffee and taking a long, pensive sip. All four of them sat in a perfectly comfortable silence for a few minutes. “So Brooke, do you ever brush your hair or is it just today?” Rich asked, a comment met with a few laughs.   
“Well,” she began, sideways glancing at Chloe, who blushed a little, “Somebody woke me up and I simply didn’t have time to brush it today, you can thank Miss Valentine over there and Mr Dillinger over here for that.”

“Oh yeah? Then why do Chloe’s cheeks have a pink tinge to them?” Jake asked, smirking.

“Um, we have to go now bye.” Chloe said, turning bright red and practically running out the room, Brooke in tow.

“So, you gonna tell me now?” Rich asked, turning his attention back to before the girls came back with coffee.

“I don’t know if I can, it’s pretty huge.” Jake replied, blushing.

“Dude coming out as bi was pretty huge, but I did it. Just, say it fast rip the band aid off.”

“I DON'T THINK I'M ENTIRELY STRAIGHT.” Jake said, the words all blending together, Rich still understood.   
“Okay, elaborate.”   
“Well, I like girls, but you see, the thing is, I like to relate my feelings to the Todd from  _ Scrubs _ , which is I appreciate all ‘hot’, y’know, regardless of anything.”   
“So, you’re pan then?”   
“Yes, I like that, good label.”

“Yeah so what does this have to do with me then?” question Rich, proud of his friend for coming out.

“Well you see I think you, uh, I think you’re, uh, I-”

“Nothing you can say will change our friendship, I promise.” Rich reassured Jake, who was now pacing up and down the foot of his bed.   
“I LIKE YOU” he blurted out before quickly covering his mouth with his hands.  _ Shit _ he thought, now it was out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol so i kind of completely forgot jke roke his legs so lets say they're healed now and it's a few weeks after the play for timeline reasons and stuff bye


	3. Hiccups

“You, you what?” asked Rich, not quite believing what he was hearing.   
“I, I like you, okay, can we forget about it and move on okay I never said it we can forget it let’s talk about something else okay what should we talk about?” Jake said, rubbing the back of his neck and blushing intensely.   
“No.”   
“No?”   
“No, I don’t wanna ignore it, because I’m not gonna lie to you Jake, I like you too, and I’m very very happy that you like me too.”    
“Really?” Jake said, looking him in the eye for the first time in the last five minutes.   
“Really,” Rich said, smiling a little, “ so, you wanna venture further into this or not?”   
“Depends, when you getting that cast off?” Jake asked.   
“Don’t know, why.”   
“I need to know how long it is until I can hug you.”   
“God you’re so sappy.”   
“I know, but maybe we could ask a doctor, when they next coming?”   
Rich looked at the clock before answering. “Uh, any time now I think” Rich replied as a doctor came walking through the door. Right on queue.

 

“Hello I’m Dr Murray, are you Richard Goranski?” asked the doctor, looking down at her clipboard.   
“Yes, it says on the wall.” said Rich, a little sarcastically.   
“Aah, smart one aren’t we? So, Richard, how’ve you been?” she asked, still not look up from the clipboard.   
“A bit stiff.” Rich replied, prompting a laugh from Dr. Murray.   
“Well, yes I expected as such. Any pain, discomfort?” she questioned further as if her serious demeanor had never broken at all.   
“Not a lot of pain, but I’m pretty much always uncomfortable though I’m settling into it now.” Rich replied, no jokes this time.   
“Good, good, let me check your stats, any questions?” she said, looking at the board on the end of his bed and taking notes, nodding occasionally.   
“Well, yes, when can I get my casts off?” Rich asked, a little urgency in his voice.   
“Hmm, well if things continue to run this smoothly, I should think next week, though don’t quote me on that, as it could be earlier if your results are extra good, though later is always possible if your state suddenly declined.” she replied, standing up and walking to the door, “Alrighty then, I’ll be back again later Mr. Goranski, goodbye.” she said, closing the door with a small click behind her. 

 

Rich and Jake stood in silent for a few seconds before Rich finally broke the silence. 

“So,”   
“So,”   
“I’ll probably get them off in a week,”   
“Yep I heard,”   
“So, back on to the subject of ‘us’.” Rich veered, his feelings wanting more out of this interaction that ‘let’s never speak of it again’.   
“Yeah, Rich I really like you, but I don’t know if I’m ready for a relationship yet.” Jke said, kind of glad Rich was currently unable to punch him to a bloody pulp.   
“Oh, oh well I guess I’m gonna have to find someone else to be my first boyfriend, maybe I’ll test out that Michael kid with the headphones he seems gay right?” Rich replied, silently kicking himself for feeling the need to blackmail Jake.   
“Oh, well maybe I’ll, I’ll,” Jake began, searching his mind for a probably empty threat, “I’ll go out with Chloe again and we’ll do it t the next party you have in your bedroom.”   
“You wouldn’t,”   
“I would, we haven’t done it since the party and I just know she’s dying to get me back in the sack since I’ve been living on her couch.”   
Rich was silent for a few minutes, fighting tears. He knew Jake. He knew the sex he and Chloe had made Jake crazy. He knew Chloe liked it too. He knew they would both be together if either of them wanted it. But  _ he _ didn’t want it.   
“Dude I’m sorry” said Rich. fumbling with his words, “But I couldn’t do that.”   
“Do what?”   
“I couldn’t date that kid with the patches and headphones, he’d probably reject me anyway thinking it was some cruel prank.”   
“Well, Rich I’m sorry but I just don’t think I’m ready to have a relationship with a guy, with girls, yes, but dude, I don’t think I’m in a place where I can do that yet.”   
“Okay, but please promise that when you’re ready you come find me, unless I’m already with somebody else because I don’t want that messing up, and if you do I’ll beat the shit outta you, understand?”   
“Understand,”   
And Rich didn’t even have to ask to shake on it, not just because he couldn’t, but because he trusted Jake.

  
After Jake had gotten back to Chloe’s house, Brooke was already leaving. “Hey guys, whatcha been doing before I got here?” Jake asked, smiling a little.   
“Oh, nothing much, just talking about stuff, Brookes was just going.” Chloe replied, smiling back.   
“Yeah well see you guys tomorrow.” Brooke said, walking through the front door of the Valentine residence, which Jake closed after her.   
“How’s Rich?” Chloe asked, sitting on the couch, which Jake joined her on.   
“Good he’s good. He might get his cast off next week.” Jake said, looking at Chloe.   
“Cool, cool,” she said, looking at the floor with a hint of a blush. Jake quietly and slowly moved closer to her, so he was sitting directly next to her. She blushed a little more, smiling a little. He gently moved her chin so she was looking at him, leaned in and kissed her. She kissed back. They pulled away.   
“No one’s home,” Chloe said, smirking. Jake smiled back. “Good,” he said. The kissed again, longer this time. Then again, a little bit of tongue slipped in that time. And again and again until eventually it was more than kisses, and I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what that is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please don't suddenly hate me for that but i wanted to spice things up a bit, stir the pot.


End file.
